Many observers speculate a five-judge panel will release the new legislative and congressional district maps next week. The court panel is now responsible for the maps because the GOP-controlled legislature and DFL Gov. Mark Dayton failed to agree on the new maps. Redistricting is required every 10 years to keep nearly the same number of people in each district.

The five-judge redistricting panel appointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court released an outline Thursday. All parties must have their proposed maps to the court next month. The court will then have a hearing on the plans in January.

A special court panel will likely have to decide how to redraw the districts because Dayton and Republican legislators probably won't agree on a plan. Every 10 years the state redraws the boundaries to account for population changes in the Census.

When Minnesota's political parties were unable to agree on new political boundaries, they went to court ... and now the bills are coming due. Democrats, Republicans, and citizens who joined the lawsuit are seeking reimbursement of $628,000 in legal costs. A panel appointed by the state Supreme Court eventually handled the redistricting.

Forum Communications reports candidates may be raising some money now, but are ultimately waiting to see how districts shake up after the new political maps are completed in February before tossing their hat into the ring.

Lots of lawmakers will have their noses in maps Tuesday. That's when a court-appointed panel will release the new boundaries of Minnesota's Congressional and legislative districts. The new lines will likely produce some places where more than one incumbent winds up in the same district.

Of course, the state's major parties each have their ideas on how the judges should approach the task. Republicans say they should focus on traditional city, county and town lines. Democrats say the panel should give more weight to what they call “communities of interest” -- such as minority populations -- that can sometimes overlap traditional boundaries.

With the new state House and Senate district lines in place, MinnPost has mapped the political leaning of each district based on average precinct results from the three most recent elections: 2006, 2008 and 2010.